Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Twenty Five

In the previous section we had a glimpse of export and import activities at Muza, or Mocha, or Al Mukha situated on the southwest of Yemen. Now, continue to read:

After sailing beyond this place about three hundred stadia the coasts of Arabia and the Berber country about the Avalitic gulf now coming close together, there is a channel, not long in extend, which forces the sea together and shuts into a narrow strait, the passage through which, sixty stadia in length, the island Diodorus divides. Therefore the course through it is beset with rushing currents and with strong winds blowing down from the adjacent ridge of mountains. Directly on this strait by the shore there is a village of Arabs subject to the same chief, called Ocelis, which is not so much a market-town as it is an anchorage and watering place and first landing for those sailing into the Gulf.

My Search:

1. Berber countries: Berber country here means Berbera and its surrounding region, and not North African countries. Berbera is on the African coast of Gulf of Aden. Bab el-Mandeb is the strait where Arabia and Berber country come close. In ancient times it was called Avalitic gulf. Most historians are of the view that Diodorus island is Socotra archepalego. Ocelis is modern day Al Shihr of the coast of Yemen. It is a strategic location for maritime trade between East Africa and Arabia and also with Eastern and Western coasts of Indian subcontinent. It is also known as Ash Shihr or Shihr and a coastal town in Hadhramaut Governorate of Yemen. The capital of Hadhramaut is the city of Mukalla. It is on the Gulf of Aden. Al Shihr was only a watering place and not a market-town.

End of the Section 

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